A Tradition of Service to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communities

Main Menu

‘Deaf and blind’ Runner Completes Marathon

A Galloway runner who completed a gruelling marathon in the Highlands without his sight or hearing has thanked everyone who generously donated to his efforts.

Andrew Gibson, 27, from Elrig, and his two friends Don O’Brien and Jamie Lapworth have raised more than £2000 ($3196) for Deafblind Scotland after completing the Loch Ness Marathon.

The trio completed the 26-mile (42-kilometer) route in four hours and 42 minutes with Andrew running the entire distance wearing a blindfold and ear defenders to raise awareness of people who live with dual sensory impairment.

The race was not without incident as Andrew ran straight into the back of another runner who had stopped abruptly in front of him at around the 16-mile mark.

Andrew said: “We’re thrilled with how it went.”

“It was a bit of a struggle at around 19 miles because we had to climb what seemed like a never-ending hill and I had already run into the back of someone by that point.

“The lads said it was beautiful scenery and lots of people were shouting encouragement but I obviously don’t have any mental image of what the route looked like. I can’t thank enough everyone from Galloway who donated. We raised double what we thought we would and people are still pitching in.

“Working for Deafblind Scot­land has made me realise what deaf-blind people overcome every day. Hopefully, we have made others think about what that would be like if they lost their sight and hearing.”